Tony and I have learned many things related to the rock hunting world, whether you are a collector, dealer, rockhounders loving the hunt, geology-obsessed, interested in making your own jewelry or looking to grow your local rock club - we hope to share what we’ve learned and become a resource, as well a source for great items to add to your collections, or finding materials for teaching and sharing a love of geology thru books, test kits and specimens.

We fell into rock hunting about 20 years ago, and have made many field trips, excursions, beach walks, descended into a couple of working coal mines, and made quarry trips - risking heat stroke, snakes, LOTS of poison ivy, ticks and falling on my a** many times. All for the love of the hunt, and the fossils, crystals and agates we loaded up in the trunk. It seemed a natural extension to carry this love of minerals and crystals into daily life, and when we had the opportunity to own the shop we migrated to that naturally as a way to ease into retirement doing what we both were passionate about. We learned to teach each other, and gravitated to different areas of the hobby to complement and round our backgrounds as neither Tony or myself had any formal education in geology or minerals. We’ve learned on the job, and are having a great time doing it!

We were active in the local Central Illinois Gem & Mineral Club, the LOESS club in Springfield, and the Geodeland Earth Science club in Macomb, putting on gem & mineral shows for several years, and arranging field trips for club members. We have written several articles for the local rock club newsletters, the regional Midwest Federation of Mineralogical Societies, and active with the American Federation of Min. Societies as well. Thru these clubs we have learned a great deal, and hope to support local rock clubs in expanding and growing their membership, as that is the largest challenge facing rock clubs now, along with fewer and fewer rockhunting sites available to clubs.

This is just one portal to our rock shop on the web (earthinsync.com) where you can find many minerals from old collections that were purchased or found from the 1960’s thru the 1990’s. You’ll find minerals from many classic localities, or locations that are no longer producing as they’ve been bulldozed over or turned into highways. You will find some real deals on this site! You can find geology books, spheres, lapidary rough, science kits and slabs, along with geodes, agates and crystals. This is a fraction of what’s sitting in the basement and garage, so I hope to move these items to make room for the new! 

Update 2023 - Sadly, Tony passed in 2021 after a long illness, and I put the store on hiatus for a while, as I recovered and moved states. I have reopened the online store, and restored my interest in the hobby, as I find new friends and rock clubs in my new home.  

If you’d like to find out more about rock hunting, or find a rock club, check out our blog at https://earthinsync.com/blogs/terra-harmonia.

All articles and photos copyright by R. Kapta

Earthinsync 2023

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About The Author

Regina Kapta is one of those multi-potentialities– lots of varied interests, but working hard to focus on one thing at a time!

Learning about geology, rock hounding and mineral collecting has naturally led to developing a online rock shop, using the foundation of years of graphic design and photography, and adding skills in e-commerce, SEO, and blogging. She has crossed a lot of boundaries, from editor of the local rock club newsletter, writing articles about minerals, setting up a rock and gem show for several years, and branching to the world of ecom.

“It’s all a work in progress, but learning keeps you young, and challenges can expand what you believe is possible! “

Rock the world - in your own way!

If you’d like to find out more about the Earthinsync, or find local places to rock hunt, do some mineral collecting or find a rock club, check out more blogs at https://earthinsync.com/blogs/terra-harmonia.

 Fo rmore information or to check out our store go to earthinsync.com or email earthinsync@comcast.net; or call us at 217 433-9585. 

Copyright 2023 Earthinsync